William Baxter Matthews Collection
1881-1932

1 linear feet

NOTE: A paper copy of the finding aid, with container list, is available at the Atlanta University Center Archives for in-house consultation and may be obtained for a fee.

William Baxter Matthews (b. 1864 d. 1940) was an educator and businessman.  His entire career was spent as a teacher, first in Atlanta at the Houston Street School (ca. 1890-1911), and later in Louisville, Kentucky, at Central Colored High School (ca. 1912-1932).  A graduate of Atlanta University, class of 1890, he served his alma mater as president of the Alumni Association and as a trustee.  Matthews was a state agent with the North Carolina Mutual and Provident Association and proprietor of the Negro Business Directory and Advertising Agency which published The Negro Business Directory and Commercial Guide of Atlanta in 1911.  He was active in the community as a member of the Atlanta branch of the YMCA, the N.A.A.C.P., fraternal organizations and the Negro Young People’s Christian and Educational Congress.

This collection consists of the papers of William Baxter Matthews from 1881 to 1932.  It includes correspondence, scrapbooks, photographs, and printed materials, most of which pertain to Atlanta University.  The bulk of the materials relates to Matthews's tenure on the Atlanta University Board of Trustees.  Correspondence from Edward Twichell Ware (Atlanta University’s third president) and fellow trustees documents the administration of the school, including fundraising efforts, land development and personnel issues.  Also included are letters from Matthews’s daughter Louise as a co-ed writing home to her parents.  These letters are an account of the events and people on the Atlanta University campus.  Of special interest is William Albert Robinson’s (class of 1913) scrapbook of his days as an Atlanta University student filled with snapshots and memorabilia of the school.